Complex ECS Movements

I don't know whether this has been asked before?

What's the most complex ECS movement on the UK Railway system, I.e. with reversals?

e.g. an early morning Northern service is booked to depart from the main platforms at Manchester Piccadilly, but the unit has visited Newton Heath overnight for servicing, which route would the ECS take to reach Piccadilly?

Does anyone else know of any unusual/complex ECS movements?

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There is a late Southern turn that runs in service to East Croydon. Change ends there, run empty half a mile or so to Windmill Bridge Jct and into Norwood turnback road, change ends again, back to Windmill Bridge and into East Croydon, change ends again, back to Windmill Bridge then up to Cottage Jct and into Selhurst depot. All seems a bit pointless but there's probably a reason for it.

TimSYoung40145 said:

I don't know whether this has been asked before?

What's the most complex ECS movement on the UK Railway system, I.e. with reversals?

e.g. an early morning Northern service is booked to depart from the main platforms at Manchester Piccadilly, but the unit has visited Newton Heath overnight for servicing, which route would the ECS take to reach Piccadilly?

Does anyone else know of any unusual/complex ECS movements?

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The most common route is:

From Newton Heath the unit will branch off at Brewery Junction, cross over the Ashton line onto the Ashburys line at Philips Park West Junction, come out at Ashburys West Junction then continue for a couple of miles (away from Manchester) all the way to Guide Bridge. Here the driver will change ends and head all the way back into Manchester - coming out at Ardwick Junction and finally into Piccadilly.

The movement from Picc to NH is easier however, as it's possible to use goods line behind Ashbury's station to change ends.

Whilst not complicated as such, one of longer ECS movements in the North West is the Newton Heath to Preston via Wigan NW and WCML in the early morning and then back again in the early hours.

pendolino said:

There is a late Southern turn that runs in service to East Croydon. Change ends there, run empty half a mile or so to Windmill Bridge Jct and into Norwood turnback road, change ends again, back to Windmill Bridge and into East Croydon, change ends again, back to Windmill Bridge then up to Cottage Jct and into Selhurst depot. All seems a bit pointless but there's probably a reason for it.

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Dunno what time that this takes place but East Croydon can get a bit busy at times. Perhaps it's just to get it out of the way?

According to Opentraintimes, there are a few Southern ECS workings from East Croydon to Selhurst Depot via Purley and Norwood Junction, but most of these arrive in East Croydon on Platform 6 which is not bi-directional. There are also some that go the opposite way to get to Platform 1 in the morning.

The Barlow Boy said:

Dunno what time that this takes place but East Croydon can get a bit busy at times. Perhaps it's just to get it out of the way?

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It terminates at East Croydon at gone midnight as far as I can remember. It's probably because there's no path straight into the depot as everything else is trying to do the same. Getting back into Selhurst at the end of the evening can take a while which is frustrating when you just want to go home to bed!
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hairyhandedfool said:

According to Opentraintimes, there are a few Southern ECS workings from East Croydon to Selhurst Depot via Purley and Norwood Junction, but most of these arrive in East Croydon on Platform 6 which is not bi-directional. There are also some that go the opposite way to get to Platform 1 in the morning.

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There are a lot more of these since the new timetable came in too. It's just a bit frustrating from the drivers' point of view, but then we are an impatient lot!

(Platform 6 is not reversible as you say, but there is a country end shunt (change ends, back into 5) that can be used, although I've never done it and I don't suppose it's a booked move. A lot of terminating services go straight into 4 or 5)

TimSYoung40145 said:

I don't know whether this has been asked before?

What's the most complex ECS movement on the UK Railway system, I.e. with reversals?

e.g. an early morning Northern service is booked to depart from the main platforms at Manchester Piccadilly, but the unit has visited Newton Heath overnight for servicing, which route would the ECS take to reach Piccadilly?

Does anyone else know of any unusual/complex ECS movements?

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

Click to expand...

There are quite a few out of Heaton in the morning, due to the fact it is the only train care depot for the North East. IIRC there is one where 3x142s go to Newcastle, drop a unit then head to Darlington, and also one that goes via Darlington to Nunthorpe.